How do the French elections work?
Did you know France elects both its President and Prime Minister?
To understand the French electoral system, let us first understand the basics of democracy.
What are the different kinds of democracy?
There are 2 forms of democracy- Direct Democracy and Indirect Democracy.
Direct Democracy: People vote on policy initiatives directly. Eg; Switzerland
Indirect/ Reprsentative democracy: Elected representatives make policy pn behalf of the people: India, France etc
What are the major electoral systems in an indirect democracy?
First past the post system : The candidate that obtains more votes than any other is elected, even if that person only won a minority of votes cast. Eg; India
Proportional Representation : Seats in proportion to votes. Thus, if a party won 40% of the votes it would receive 40% of the seats. Eg; Germany, France
What kind of system does France follow?
France follows proportional representation and has a semi-presidential system which is also known as a president-parliamentary system. There are elections for both the President and the Prime Minister. The prime minister and cabinet are accountable to the president and the parliament.
Who is more powerful- the President or Prime Minister?
The cabinet is headed by the President and not the Prime Minister. Though the president gets to choose the prime minister, it is usually a candidate who enjoys majority support in the parliament. The Prime Minister can be dismissed by the President or by a No-confidence motion. Unlike a typical parliamentary system, the president is more powerful in this form of government.
What happens if the Prime Minister and President are from different parties?
If the President and Prime Minister are from different parties, it is called cohabitation. If the President’s party, does not win a majority in the National assembly, then the President has to appoint and work with a Prime Minister from the opposition. Though the constitution does not explicitly state the division of roles between the Prime Minister and President, the President in this case focuses on Defence and Foreign Policy while the Prime Minister focuses on the Economy and Domestic policy. In case, both the President and PM are from the same party, the President generally tends to control every aspect of government through the Prime Minister.
What is the second ballot system?
The nation follows a Two Round System or Second Ballot electoral system by which their citizens directly vote for the President.
The Presidential electoral process consists of two rounds. In the first round, all candidates whether independent or representatives of political parties require the signatures of at least 500 elected officials in order to contest elections. If any candidate manages to win more than 50% of the votes and has a number of votes equal to at least one quarter of all the registered voters in the electorate, then he/she is elected as the President for a term of 5 years.
However, if no candidate wins the top 2 candidates go into a runoff in the 2nd round. In the 2nd round, whichever candidate has more votes, wins the elections.
11 candidates contested in the first round this year, with Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen advancing to the 2’nd round which will be held today.
-Rhea Anthony
